Yes, Microsoft Edge Still Gets (Much) Better Battery Life Than Chrome

Back in June, Microsoft threw down the gauntlet, claiming that Edge provided significant better battery life than competing browsers like Chrome or Firefox. Today, it says that the gap has only grown, thanks to improvements in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

“With the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft Edge is more efficient than ever, and still the best choice for extending your battery life on Windows 10,” Microsoft’s Jason Weber writes. “[Edge is] up to 24 to 43 percent more efficient than the competition for general purpose browsing, and lasts up to 23 to 69 percent longer when streaming video.”

As I noted at that time, however, Google was comparing new Chrome to old Chrome, however, and old Chrome was notoriously terrible for battery life. As notably, Google never compared Chrome to Edge, though it very sneakily used Microsoft Surface Book computers in its battery life video, aping what Microsoft had done earlier. I’m sure they fooled some people. But Microsoft is on to them.

“Our competitors haven’t been sitting still,” Weber writes. “We’re thrilled to see the response our first round of tests inspired, including battery life improvements landing in recent releases of other browsers, as well as a spirited debate over methodology and results.”

So how does the latest version of Chrome compare to Microsoft Edge?

Poorly.

“Microsoft Edge remains the most efficient browser on Windows 10, offering 24 to 43 percent more efficiency across a sample of typical activities including video playback, multi-tab productivity, shopping, social media, and more,” Weber says. “We repeated our Netflix streaming test on the Anniversary Update, and Microsoft Edge lasts up to 23 to 69 percent longer than the other browsers we measured – more than 90 minutes longer than Google Chrome.”

Best of all, Microsoft even duplicated Google’s tests, but using Edge (and Firefox and Opera) too.

“We shot a second video to compare like for like, this time using their methodology: looping the same video from Vimeo, instead of Netflix,” Weber gleefully explains. “In this test, Microsoft Edge lasted even longer – more than 13 hours! – and still beats Chrome by more than an hour. Microsoft Edge even lasted 62 percent longer – more than five hours! – when compared to Firefox.”

Lots of misplaced exclamation points in there, but you get the idea: If and when battery life matters, you should be using Microsoft Edge.